The Observer Media Group Inc. respects your privacy and values the relationship we have with you. We use technology to collect information that helps us enhance your experience and our products and services. The cookies we use help us understand what information and advertising are most useful and valuable. Please take a moment to review our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy. By clicking "Accept," you agree to our use of cookies and similar technologies.

He should be fired

FDOT is not the one to blame for the traffic backups on the Ringling Causeway. The city is. It controls the timing of the projects.

At 5:30 p.m. Monday, a Sarasota County Fire Department EMS vehicle and fire truck were dispatched from the Station 3 firehouse on North Adams Drive, next to St. Armands Circle.

Eastbound traffic was at a standstill on the John Ringling Causeway from the Gulfstream/U.S. 41 intersection on the mainland all the way to St. Armands Circle.

You could see the fire truck driver — with the truck’s lights blinking and siren ringing — trying to figure out how to maneuver and weave through the logjam. It was barely clocking 10 mph.

Normally, according to Google Maps, the drive from St. Armands Circle to Sarasota Memorial Hospital at normal speed takes 12 minutes. Even less when an ambulance is barreling unimpeded.

Monday evening, because of the traffic, it took 23 minutes.

Twice as long. More than twice as long for a typical emergency vehicle.

Because of federal privacy laws, the Sarasota County Fire Department declined to disclose the nature of the transport and the patient’s health.

But the fact a 12-minute drive took more than twice as long says it all.

And by now, you no doubt have heard or read other stories of the consequences of the backups every day on the John Ringling Causeway — caregivers not making it to their patients, caregivers giving up their jobs or service companies declining to do business on the barrier islands because of the traffic.

But as Sarasota City Manager Tom Barwin sees it, hey, c’mon, be patient. Listen to podcasts. Enjoy the view from atop the Ringling Bridge.

City directly responsible

We did some reporting on how all of these roundabout and John Ringling Causeway tree removal and sidewalk installation projects occur when they do and who’s responsible for the traffic management.

The responsibility for it all points directly at Sarasota City Hall.

As told to us, here is how it works:

It starts with the city of Sarasota. The city made the decisions that it wanted roundabouts on U.S. 41 at 14th and 10th streets, the Fruitville Road intersection and the Gulfstream intersection.

U.S. 41 falls under the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Transportation. So when local governments seek improvements, there is a long process for FDOT to secure funding.

Once the funding is appropriated, the local municipality prioritizes for FDOT when the projects are to be done.

FDOT is a partner in these projects; it is not the dictator. FDOT typically contracts the actual work and real-time management of lane closures and signage during the project. FDOT also contributes to communication with information on its website.

But the city has control over the timing.

In the case of the roundabout at U.S. 41 and Fruitville Road — the primary source of the daily four-hour backups — the city of Sarasota has had total control of the timing. That project is exclusively between the city and the Quay’s developer; FDOT is not involved.

Granted, it’s a yearlong project, but, to be blunt, Sarasota City Manager Tom Barwin, the executive in charge of all city operations, is responsible for scheduling that work and did nothing to lessen its effects at the height of season.

Likewise, the sidewalk and landscaping projects along John Ringling Causeway. The city controlled their start.

Always unresponsive

'Killing the Golden Goose'

Here are excerpts of an email Diana Corrigan, executive director of the St. Armands Circle Association, sent to Daniel Ohrenstein, assistant city engineer:

“The lane closures that you informed me about on Friday afternoon, which are to begin tomorrow morning and last for two weeks, are going to be extremely detrimental to all of our businesses on St. Armands Circle.

“You are doing a lane closure in the height of peak season, during the morning rush hour when people are trying to come to work and then during the lunch hour when people want to come to the Circle to enjoy lunch and shopping.

“Our businesses lost a tremendous amount of income during the October-December months when you had the lanes closed, heading west, to remove all of the trees — and we weren’t in peak season yet. The holiday shopping season is one of the busiest retail seasons in the year, and our businesses were flat, and the Circle was empty because no one wanted to come out to the Circle to sit in traffic. …

“Our office received, and continues to receive, many, many phone calls and emails from visitors telling us how long they sat in traffic and that they are not coming back to the Circle.

“Our businesses are hearing the same thing from customers. Customers are telling our businesses that they didn’t come here to sit in traffic for over an hour to get off the Circle. People have told us, ‘Next year I’m going someplace else.’

“Can’t you please find another portion of the MURT project that you can do now that won’t close traffic lanes, until we can get through season?? …

“This is the time of year that our businesses earn the majority of their annual income, and these construction projects, as one business owner said to me, are ‘Killing the Golden Goose.’

“I’ve been through a number of construction projects on St. Armands Circle during my 21 years as executive director — including building a 60-foot fixed-span bridge.

“I have never seen traffic congestion and angry customers like I am seeing now. …

“Please let me know what can be done now to ease the traffic burden that our community has had to, unfairly, bear for the five months.”

On Monday, Diana Corrigan, executive director of the St. Armands Circle Association, pleaded again to city officials for relief (see box, “Killing the Golden Goose”). She told us Tuesday she heard from Barwin, who only now is starting to organize meetings with affected parties.

Barwin’s unresponsiveness is not new. Former Longboat Key commissioners and others all say the same thing about their dealings with Barwin: unresponsive.

If Barwin cared about the effects of these projects on the residents of Longboat Key and the other barrier islands, on the St. Armands Circle businesses or the effects on the city’s visitors, the situation would not be the crisis that it is.

Judging from the city’s lack of response to ameliorate the daily backups, Barwin appears indifferent to regional relationships. Although he might think Longboat Key residents are not his constituents, he forgets they are the constituents and funders of nearly everything in the city — the not-for-profit human-services providers, the arts, restaurants and retailers, and colleges. Corrigan’s store owner is right: He’s killing the “golden goose.”

In a crisis, you respond

When there’s a crisis, you respond with action. Longboat Key resident Bob Gault compared the traffic crisis to what is done when communities host a Super Bowl or deal with a hurricane.

They go into action 24/7 to keep life and services functioning as close to normal as possible. They don’t just listen to podcasts.

The backups on John Ringling Causeway have been a daily occurrence for three months. Visible to everyone. Depriving emergency vehicles and their patients of precious minutes to medical attention.

And what has City Manager Tom Barwin done? Nothing that anyone can see. He should be fired.